Driving axle



A ri14, 1944. E, E WEMP 2,345,846

v DRIVING AXLE I Filed Jan. 23, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet l 4 INYENTOR. ZrnestZ. M040 BY wan/2635.

- April 4, 1944. E, w MP' 2,345,846

' DRIVING AXLE v Filed Jan. 23, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

April4, 1944. E. E. WEMP DRIVING AXLE Fi led Jan. 25, 1945 a SheetsSheet5 IN VENTOR.

Patented Apr. 4, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRIVING AXLE Ernest E.Weinp, Detroit, Mich.

Application January 23, 1943,:Serial No. 473,338

1 Claim.

This invention relates particularly to automotive vehicles and it has todo with a reversing arrangement so that the vehicle may be drivenforwardly or reversely. The invention is concerned particularly with acombination of elements including a torque converter and a hypoid gearset, such as a driving axle, and wherein reversing mechanism isincorporated in the hypoid gearing.

As is well known, the internal combustion engine commonly used inautomotive vehicles is not reversible and the power transmitted thereby,as for example, by a torque converter of the type shown in copendingapplication Serial No. 460,795, filed October 5, 1942, is in onedirection of rotation only. Accordingly, some form of reversing means isnecessary so that the vehicle may be propelled both forwardly andbackwardly. The hypoid axle is generally known to those versed in theart as one where the pinion which drives the ring gear of the axle islocated below a sub stantially horizontal diametral line through thering gear of the axle. In other words, the axis of the pinion and thepropeller shaft where it connects to the pinion are located below thecenter line of the axle shaft. One advantage of this is to permitlowering the vehicle frame and thus alowering of the center of gravity.

In accordance with this invention a novel axle construction of thehypoid type is provided by means of which the direction of rotationimparted to the axle shaft may be reversed for forward and reversemovements. Accordingly, where a torque converter, as for example, of thetype shown in the above mentioned application, is used in a vehicle withan internal combustion engine, no separate reversing means or reversinggears need be employed where the reversing axle construction of thisinvention is employed. The hypoid gearing, such as an axle, for example,has a construction which lends itself advantageously to the provision ofthe reversing arrangement and this construction particularly resides inthe fact that the axis of the pinion is out of line with the axle shaftand, therefore, the propeller shaft may be extended beyond the pinion tosubstantially the opposite side of the ring gear, such extended shaftpassing under the drive shaft of the axle. Accordingly, a secondconnection may be made between the propeller shaft and the ring gear.

While it has been stated that the invention relates particularly toautomotive vehicles and that a hypoid axle is known to those in the artas'one where the axis of the driving pinion is located below the axis ofthe axle shaft, thezinvention is not necessarily limited to anautomotive vehicle or to a hypoid axle. In other words, the inventionmay be used for the transmission of power in other mechanism, and in sofar as the hypoid gearing is concerned, the parts could be reversed sothat the axis of the pinion would lie above or to one side of adiametral plane through a ring gear. Accordingly, while it is convenientto disclose'the invention as it is related to an automotive vehicle, itwill be seen that it is not limited thereto.

One construction for carrying out the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, and in these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diametrical view illustrating part of a chassis of a vehicleshowing the engine, torque converter, propeller shaft and axleconstruction.

Fig. 2 'is a horizontal cross sectional view taken through an axleconstructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view looking at the construction from the lefthand side of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on line44 of Fig. 2, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is an ensmalled sectional view illustrating control elements,this View being taken substantially on line 5 5 of Fig. 2'.

Fig. 6 is a view of control mechanism taken substantially onllne 6-6 ofFig. 5.

By reference first to Fig. 1,:itwill beseen that there is a diagrammaticillustration of an automotive vehicle comprising front wheels I, rearwheels 2 and an engine 3. A torque converter is shown at t for providingvariable torque and speed ratios between the engine and the propellershaft 5. The rear axle shaft is shown at 6, the same being provided witha beveled ringg'ear l, and this construction is shown as being of thehypoid type, there being a pinion 8 with its teeth meshing with the ringgear, while the propeller shaft extends as at 5a across the ring gearunderneath the axle shaft. The parts 5 and 5a of the propeller shaft maybe integral or may be separate elements connected for rotation inunison.

In Fig. 2 the details of the construction of the axle and reversingmechanism are shown. The two halves of the axle shaft are shown at Goand 6b, disposed in the tubular parts 10 and H of the axle housing. Acarrier in the form of a machined casting is generally illustrated at 12(Fig. 3), and it is secured to the axle housing as bymeans of cap screwsl3, as shown, for which purpose the axle housing is enlarge-din itscen'-' tral portion in the usual fashion, as indicated,

rier.

The carrier may close the forward opening in the housing, while a coverplate l4 may enclose the opening at the rear of the housing. Thisconstruction forms an enclosure and a support for the gearing and theaxle shafts and propeller shaft.

Th two axle shafts 6a and 3b are interconnected, through the means ofdifierential gearing, to the ring gear of the axle. To this end anelement, which'may. be also called a carrier, is illustrated at 28,journalled in the main carrier as at 2| and 22, and this element hasattached thereto the ring gear I. Pinions are shown at 23 and arerotatably mounted upon a stud 24 situated in the carrier 20. The shaft6b is keyed at 23 to a beveled gear 25, while the axle shaft 6a is keyedto a beveled gear 2! as at 28, and the two beveled gears mesh with thepinions 23. This provides the usual differential between the: two axleshafts, but there is this variation: The differential itself comprisingthe meshing pinions and beveled gears is located on the side of the ringgear opposite its toothed portion instead of in its usual position,which is on the toothed side of the ring gear. This construction is forthe purpose of providing room for the propeller shaft a to extendtransversely across the axle.

The propeller shaft, or propeller shaft part 5a, extends into thecarrier or housing through a cap 38 bolted to the carrier l2 as at 3|,andit is journalled in the cap as at 32. It has a flange 33 by means .ofwhich it can be connected to the propeller shaft part 5. The propellershaft has a toothed member which may be considered a clutch member, asshown at 34, and this member may be integral with the shaft, while atthe op posite end, i. e., the end opposite the flange 33, it isprovidedwith a toothed clutch member 4| which may be keyed or splined to theshaft as at 35. The hypoid pinion 8 is journalled in the carrier I2 asby means of an anti-friction bearing 36 and an anti-friction bearing 31.The carrier. I2 has an intermediate web construction 38. The pinion 8has a toothed clutch member 39 disposed in facing relationship with thclutch member 34 on the propeller shaft 5a. The member 39 may be aseparate piece keyed or splined to the pinion 8, as shown. The teeth ofthe ring gear mesh with those of the pinion 8, as illustrated at 40. Theapparent misalignment of this dental engagement is dueto the fact thatthe section of the ring gear is throughthe axle shaft, whereas theactual location of the dental engagement is below the plane of thesection. a a

. There is an auxiliary support or carrier member 42 which is bolted tothe carrier l2, as at 44, and indeed, this auxiliary support 42 servespartially to support the bearing 22, and the propeller shaft 5aprojects. through this part of the car- The pinion 9 is free of theshaft 5a, and it is journalled in the carrier part 42 by bearings 45 and46. The propeller shaft 5a may be piloted within the pinion, as by meansof a needle bearing 41, while the end thereof projects for the receptionof the clutch member 4|. Mounted on the pinion 9 is a toothed clutchmember 50 in a position facing the toothed clutch member 4|. The teethof the pinion 9 and of the ring gear I mesh with each other, and theapparent misalignment of this fit, as shown at 5|, occurs for the-samereason as the with the pinion 8.

g The carrier is formed and cut away, as shown Fig. 5, so that the teethof the pinion 8 are exposed for meshing with those ofthe ring gear,

dental engagement 48 and the wall 52 of the carrier part 42 is likewisecut away to expose the teeth of the pinion 9 so that they may mesh withthose of the ring gear. Accordingly, it will be observed that thepropeller shaft is provided with two pinions, both of which mesh withthe ring gear of the axle, but both of which are independently rotatablea regards each other and regards the propeller shaft. The toothed clutchmembers 34 and 4| on the propeller shaft and the toothed clutch members39 and 50 on the pinions 8 and 9, respectively, provide means forcoupling the shaft to one pinion or the other, and this is accomplishedby a shiftable clutch means under the control of an operator. Thearrangement is that the propeller shaft may be disconnected from bothpinions, thus providing a neutral or non-driving condition.

An internally toothed clutch member 60 having a groove 8| is associatedwith the clutch members 34 and 39, and its internal teeth are arrangedto have dental engagement with those of the clutch members. A secondshiftable clutch member 62 having a groove 63 is associated with theclutch members 4| and 5|]. The two shiftable clutch members have commoncontrol means and which control means keeps the two members accuratelyspaced relative to each other. As shown in Fig. 6, a control rod' 65 ismounted for axial shift in bearings provided in the two housing parts I2and 42, and attached to each end of the rod is a shoe 66, each having aportion which fits into the groove of one of the shiftable clutchmembers. For the purposes of shifting the control rod, the carrier 12may be provided with an enlargement 6'! in which a stub rock shaft 68 isjournalled. This rock shaft carries an arm 69, the head of which issuitably fashioned so as to'engage in a slot 10 in the rod. Rocking ofthe shaft 68 causes a swinging of the arm 69and a shift of the controlrod. Suitable means are provided for controlling the movements of therock shaft, and, as shown herein, this may be control arm mounted uponthe exposed end of the rock shaft. The control is, of course, preferablymanipulated from an advantageous position, and, as diagrammaticallyillustrated in Fig. l, a rod 12 connects to the arm 1| and extends to aconvenient position where it may be connected to a lever or the like, asshown at 13. This control is diagrammatically shown, as are theremaining portions of Fig. 1. V

With the parts positioned as shown in Fig. 2. thepropeller shaft 5a isconnected in driving relationship with the pinion 8 through the clutchmembers 34, 60 and 39. Therefore, rotation of the drive shaft will causethe pinion 8 to rotate in unison therewith, andthe power is transmittedthrough the ring gear and the differential to the .two axle shafts 6aand 6b. .At'this time the clutch member 62 is positioned so that it isconnected only with the clutch member 4|, and, therefore, the pinion 9is not connected to :the shaft 5a. This arrangement preferably gives theforward drive condition, which'is" the .condition under which thevehicle is operated the majority of the time. The pinion9 will rotate ina direction reverse to that. of the pinion 8 during the forward driving,of .the vehicle, but there is no load on the pinion 9, and it freelyidles in its bearings 45 and 46, andithere is a freedom' of movementbetween the propeller shaft and the shaft 9 due to the bearing 41.5 1If. the shaft 65 be shifted to the extreme left position, the. clutchmember 60 willbeshifted out of engagement with the member 3|, and theclutch member 62 will be shifted into engagement with the clutch member50. Now the pinion 8 is free of the propeller shaft, but the pinion 9 isconnected to the propeller shaft through the clutch elements 4|, 62 and55. Therefore, with the same direction of rotation of the propellershaft, the ring gear I will be driven in the reverse direction. Anintermediate or neutral position can be had by shifting the couplingelements 60 and 62 to the left from the position shown in Fig. 2 andstopping at a point where the member 60 is disconnected from the clutchmember 39 and where the member 62 has not yet coupled to the member 50.Under these circumstances, the propeller shaft 5a may rotate, but bothpinions may remain at rest. It will be understood that the shifting toestablish and to break these dental engagements will preferably be madesubstantially in the absence of r torque. Usually no change is made fromforward to reverse, or vice versa, except when the vehicle is at rest.

A further advantage of the construction is that the axial thrust on thepinions is taken by the large bearings 36 and 46. When the pinion 8 iscoupled to the ring gear, the bearing 36 takes the thrust when torque istransmitted to the ring gear. When the pinion 9 is connected to the ringgear for reverse, the bearing 46 takes the thrust. Thus, the bearing 31is required to take no load thrust, since the reverse drive is nottransmitted through this pinion.

I claim:

A driving axle for an automotive vehicl comprising, an axle housinghaving two tubular housing parts and an intermediate enlarged housingpart, the intermediate enlarged part having a forward opening, alignedaxle shafts in the two tubular housing parts, a sub-assembly comprisinga carrier member, a unit including a ring gear of the hypoid type and adifferential gear set journalled in the carrier member, a pinionjournalled in the carrier member having teeth meshing with those of thering gear, a second pinion journalled in the carrier having teethmeshing with those of the ring gear, said pinions being positioned toengage the ring gear on opposite sides of its axis, said pinions beingdisposed on the same axis and being of the hypoid type so that theprojection of their axes is disaligned relative to the axes of the twoaxle shafts, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in the carrier member andextending rotatably through the two pinions on their axes and crossingthe line of axis of the axle shafts, clutch means associated with eachpinion and the drive shaft, control means mounted on the carrier memberand operable on the clutch means to selectively connect one pinion tothe drive shaft and disconnect the other pinion from the drive shaft,said sub-assembly adapted to be passed into the forward opening of theenlarged housing part and the carrier member adapted to be secured tothe enlarged housing part to close the forward opening and to positionthe axis of the ring gear on the axis of the tWo axle shafts and meansconnecting the two axle shafts to the differential gear set, one of theaxle shafts crossing the driving shaft.

ERNEST E. WEMP.

